Background: Teaching Games for Understanding has been promoted as an innovative curriculum model in the past decade in Hong Kong. It focuses on developing pupils' tactical awareness and decision making capability through integrating the cognitive and contextual dimensions of learning in physical education. Aims: This article reports a qualitative study of occupational socialization experiences of pre-service physical education teachers on Teaching Games for Understanding. Sample and methods: Data of 4 final year pre-service physical education teachers with an orientation towards teaching were collected through interviews and writing of reflective journals. Occupational socialisation suggested by Lawson (1983) and the interpretive inquiry perspective were adopted as theoretical frameworks for generating meanings. Results and recommendations: All participants perceived Teaching Games for Understanding positively as a viable instruction contributing to pupils' cognitive development and providing fun. They regarded it as pedagogical knowledge and mapped well with the current education reform in Hong Kong. Although they encountered a number of conceptual and instructional difficulties for implementing the model, they were determined to adopt the model in their future teaching. The findings generate insights on how pre-service PE teachers can be helped and facilitated in their occupational socialization processes. (Contains 3 figures.)